Bangalore: Renovation of Ministerial Bungalows Cost Rs 4.17 Cr
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
BANGALORE, Jul 15: Austerity for birds? This could well be the question that ordinary citizens and tax-payers as well as the salaried employees might ask when they get to know about the huge amounts spent by the state exchequer on the renovation of ministerial bungalows after BJP came to power in Karnataka under chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in May last year.
The poser becomes all the more relevant, especially in the present context of global economic recession, which has affected the lives of almost all individuals, companies and governments alike in one form or other.
Just consider the facts: Karnataka has spent a whopping Rs 4.17 crore on the renovation of BJP’s ministerial bungalows since May last year. And, the amount spent on account of the chief minister is Rs 1.88 crore.
According to information furnished by Karnataka’s public works minister C M Udasi in the state assembly in response to an unstarred question, the government spent Rs 56.45 lakh for the chief minister’s official residence, ``Anugraha,’’ where Yeddyurappa does not stay, and another Rs 1.32 crore for renovation of another bungalow on Race Course Road.
Incidentally, Yeddyurappa has been staying in the Race Course Road bungalow since his tenure as opposition leader in the state assembly since 2004 assembly elections and subsequently when he became deputy chief minister in the H D Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-BJP coalition regime and later when he became chief minister for a brief while. He continued in the same bungalow during the President’s rule and the run-up to the 2008 assembly polls and preferred to continue it as his official residence reportedly because he considers the bungalow as very lucky for him.
The expenses incurred on renovating the chief minister’s Race View cottage on Race Course Road included laying Eurocon tiles, fixing imported wall papers to bedrooms, living room, police security toilets, improvement in servant quarters, improvement of general toilet, VIP toilets, laying royal marble flooring to master bedroom and improvement works in kitchen.
The Rs 56.45 lakh expenditure for ‘Anugraha’ included painting works, renovation of kitchen block, and extension of portico of the bungalow. Construction of servants’ quarters, horticulture improvements and construction of rest rooms, which were also taken up under the renovation works.
The cost of renovation of ‘Kaveri’, the official bungalow of Legislative Assembly Speaker, Jagadish Shettar, was Rs 22.55 lakh. Another Rs 18.45 lakh was spent on Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister Shobha Karandlaje’s bungalow on Kumara Krupa Road while Udasi’s official bungalow on Crescent Road was renovated at a cost of Rs 25.68 lakh.
Renovation of Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy’s official residence on Race Course Road cost Rs 41.25 lakh and Rs 26.10 lakh on the official residence of Sugar and Marketing Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi.
The expenditure on renovation of the official residences of other ministers is: Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa Rs 6 lakh, Urban Development Minister Suresh Kumar Rs 7.5 lakh, Minor Irrigation and Planning Minister Govind Karjol Rs 3.46 lakh, Small Scale Industries and Silk Minister Minister Venkataramanappa Rs. 11.83 lakh, Social Welfare Minister D Sudhakar Rs. 33 lakh, Women and Child Welfare Minister P M Narendraswamy Rs 15.65 lakh and Health Minister B Sriramulu Rs 3 lakh.